Smith Post Office window hours reducing

The hours of operation at the Smith Post Office will be reduced to six hours daily after survey results preferred that option over other cost-saving options.

A Postal Service official and current Smith Postmaster Larry Talbott conducted a public meeting last Tuesday to answer questions and explain the proposed change in hours.

Talbott has decided to retire from his Postmaster position after this change and other issues made it beneficial for him to retire from the U.S. Postal Service.

Lynn Holmes, manager of postal operations for Northern Nevada, said it is currently looking at Smith Post Office hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, to take effect in October, but that wasn't set in stone and one resident near the end of the meeting requested it stay open until 4 p.m., mainly due to a business where they mail a lot of items.

The Saturday window hours would remain the same and customers noted Smith is the only post office in the area that is open Saturdays (including Yerington), and some people come from Yerington, one attendee said. Currently, the window is open from 8 to 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays.

Holmes said the Postal Service took into account post office operational needs in making this recommendation. Later, though, she noted, "I've found in rural communities the post office is where you go to get information, to get the scoop."

The Postal Service mailed out 274 surveys in early July and 126 of those were returned. The survey included four options: 1) keep the office open but with realigned weekday window service hours, based on actual office workload; 2) conduct a discontinuance study for the office and provide roadside mailbox delivery; 3) conduct a discontinuance study for the office and find a suitable alternative location operated by a contractor (usually at a local business); and, 4) conduct a discontinuance study for the office and provide P.O. Box service via another nearby post office (Wellington is closest) and relocate P.O. box delivery to that post office.

Those attending the meeting were able to still fill out surveys, it was announced.

The letter that accompanied the survey said the Postal Service has established a review process for certain post offices and the Smith office was one chosen for this evaluation and the USPS was soliciting community input.

It said the USPS would examine the responses, but unless there was a strong preference for the discontinuance option (more than 60 percent), the Postal Service intended to maintain the Smith Post Office with six hours of window service each weekday.

Holmes said if residents wanted all the documents involved with this process, they could make a Freedom of Information Act request. They could do so by calling Carla Denard, USPS consumer and industry manager, at 702-361-9204, or by mail to: Consumer Affairs, 1001 E. Sunset Grove, Las Vegas, NV, 89199.

Holmes thanked the attendees for coming, and said they could help the post office remain open six hours daily by their patronage. She said currently there is a moratorium on closing Post Offices, made at a political level, but that could change so the risk of closing the post offices was not gone.

Talbott said they would look at the number of deliveries and mail volume each day, and traffic in the Post Office.

He suggested contacting members of Congress, as they make the final decision about such things.

Regarding the ultimate hours, Holmes said they wouldn't want to impact the transportation of mail, or to do so as little as possible, noting the truck comes through shortly after 4 p.m.

However, she said the hours could be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. She said the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. times were based on peak times at the window and transportation.